Analytical methods for trace elements in biological material.

L O Plantin

Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 6592935

Analytical methods for trace elements in biological material.

L O Plantin

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Trace elements and essential trace elements are defined. The principal methods commonly used for their analysis in biological tissues are reviewed. The methods covered are chemical, electrochemical, optical spectrometry, X-ray spectrometry, mass spectrometry, and nuclear methods. The great importance of the sampling procedure and sample treatment is pointed out. The most sensitive, most generally applicable multi-element procedure is neutron activation analysis. The main drawbacks are that the procedure is time-consuming and expensive. Atomic absorption spectrometry is the most popular method. It is fast and inexpensive but can usually only be used as a single-element technique.

Explore related subjects

Activation Analysis Chemistry Techniques, Analytical Electrochemistry Spectrometry, Gamma Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission Spectrum Analysis Trace Elements Journal Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

L O Plantin. 1984. Analytical methods for trace elements in biological material.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6592935/

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed1995

Proton activation analysis of stable isotopes for a molybdenum biokinetics study in humans.

Molybdenum is a trace element essential to life. Nevertheless, little information is available on its metabolism in humans. A methodology based on stable isotope administration that combines compartmental analysis, simultaneous use of two tracers, and proton nuclear activation (PNA) is presented. A four-compartment metabolic model was adopted. The compartments are stomach, small intestine, transfer compartment, and unquantified tissue pool. The employment of two different stable isotopes of the element under investigation as tracers was made possible by PNA. Optimization of the technique for molybdenum determination in plasma led to the choice of 95Mo and 96Mo as tracers. Their concentrations in plasma can be determined measuring the disintegration gamma lines of the corresponding technetium radioisotopes produced via (p,n) reaction. In the adopted experimental conditions, a minimum detectable concentration of 2 ng isotope/ml plasma was attained. A kinetics study was performed on two healthy volunteers. To both subjects one tracer was orally administered, and the other intravenously injected. Venous blood samples were withdrawn at different postinjection times and the concentrations for both isotopes determined. The model parameters describing molybdenum kinetics were obtained for the two individuals. Total absorbed fraction was found to be 0.84 +/- 0.03 and 0.86 +/- 0.07, respectively.

Activation Analysis↗

PubMed1992

Human auditory primary and association cortex have differing lifetimes for activation traces.

The magnetic field pattern over the temporal area of the scalp 100 ms following the onset of a tone burst stimulus provides evidence for neuronal activity in auditory primary and association cortices that overlap in time. Habituation studies indicate that onset and offset features of a tone produce activation traces in primary cortex that are at least partially common, but only the onset produces an appreciable trace in association cortex. The characteristic time constant for the decay of the latter's activation trace is several seconds longer than for the former.

Activation Analysis↗

PubMed1992

The elongation-termination decision in transcription.

At any template position, the decision to extend the transcript by one residue or to release the nascent RNA represents a kinetic competition between elongation and termination pathways. This competition is discussed in terms of alternative Eyring transition state barriers; changes in termination efficiency correspond to small changes in the relative heights of these barriers. Elongation complexes are stable at nonterminator positions; a model is presented to explain the destabilization of these complexes at intrinsic termination sites. Functionally analogous effects can operate at rho-dependent terminators. Mechanisms for modulation of termination efficiency by regulatory proteins are described.

Activation Analysis↗